Reclosable cartons



United States Patent 3,235,166 RECLOSABLE CARTONS Reynolds Guyer, White Bear Lake, Minm, assignor to WaldorfPaper Products Company, St. Paul, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Filed Oct. 8, 1964, Ser. No. 402,507 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-51) This invention relates to an improvement in reclosable cartons and deals particularly with a carton having a removable top forming a carton of the telescope top type. 1

Cartons formed of two sections which telescope together have been produced for a good number of years. One of the advantages of cartons of this type lies in the fact that the cover forms an effective closure which is easy to remove or replace. One of the biggest difliculties with cartons of this type lies in the fact that they are relatively expensive, must usually be made in two parts and assembled, and they usually do not handle effectively on automatic equipment.

Attempts have been made to produce a telescope carton by removing the upper portion of the carton along a perforated line or along a tear strip and replacing the top portion on the body so as to telescope therewith. However, this operation requires either that the upper corners of the body portion be kinked inwardly to reduce the periphery of the upper portion of the body, or else it is necessary to split the removed top portion so that it can expand sufficiently to encircle the body when removed. While this latter form of construction has been successfully used, the appearance of the carton when reclosed is affected by the slit in the cover portion.

It is a feature of the present invention to provide a carton of the usual paste-end type having a weakened line of separation extending continuously about the periphery near to, and preferably parallel with, the upper edges of the carton involved. A strip of paper or similar material encircles the upper portion of the car-ton and is secured in face contact therewith above the perforated line. The perforated line is opened by applying inward pressure to the carton walls beneath the weakened line of separation, the top wall of the carton tending to hold the portion of the side walls above the weakened line from bending inwardly. By applying inward pressure at the right areas, the weakened line may be separated and the top removed. When replaced, the portions of the carton on opposite sides of the weakened line butt together and the portion of encircling strip which projects below the perforated line telescopes over the upper end of the body portion below the perforated line.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the carton in closed condition.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the carton after it has been opened.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view through the closed carton.

FIGURE 4 is a transverse sectional view through the carton, the position of the section being indicated by the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the carton is formed.

The carton is illustrated in general by the letter A. The carton is formed of the blank best illustrated in FIG- URE 5 of the drawings, together with a strip applied to the outer surface thereof. The carton A includes a face panel 10, a side panel 11, a second face panel 12, and a "Ice side wall panel 13 connected along spaced parallel fold lines 14, 15, and 16. The endpanels of the series are connected together by suitable means, such as by a glue flap 17 hingedly connected to the edge of the panel 10 along a fold line 19, and which is adhered in face contact with the edge of the panel 13. i

The panels 10, 11, 12, and 13 are hingedly connected along their upper edges by a fold line 20* to top closing flaps 21, 22, 23, and 24. The wall panels 10, 11, 12, and 13 are hingedly connected along their lower edges by a fold line 25 to bottom closing flaps 26, 27, 29, and 30, respectively. As will be noted to this point the description is that of a conventional paste-end carton.

A weakened line of separation 31 extends across the panels 10, ll, 12, and 13 as well as across glue flap 17. The weakened line 31 is spaced from the top fold line 20 a distance sufficient to permit a strip of paper to be adhered thereto between the weakened line 31 and the fold line 20. At the same time, the weakened line is close enough to the fold line 20 so that the top flaps of the carton, when closed, will resist the inward flexing of the panels. As a result, when inward pressure is applied to the carton beneath the fold line 20, the panels will separate along the weakened line 31.

As indicated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, a strip of paper, which may be of considerably less thickness than the carton stock forming the body of the carton, is wrapped about the upper portion of the carton walls. The strip is indicated in general by the numeral 32 and preferably includes an end portion 33 which is adhered in face contact with one side wall such as the side wall 11, an adjoining portion 34 which lies outwardly of the panel 10, a third portion 35 which lies outwardly of the wall 13, an adjoining portion 36 which lies outwardly of the face panel 12, and a terminal portion .37 which overlies the end portion 33 of the strip and is adhered thereto. In other words, the ends :of the strip 32 overlap, and to enhance the appearance of the carton, the overlapping portion may be the full width of one of the side walls.

In opening the carton A from the position shown in FIGURE 1 to the position shown in FIGURE 2, the portions of the side and face panels just below the weakened line 31 are pressed inwardly, breaking the carton panels along the weakened line. The corner portions of the carton, which are difficult to push inwardly to any extent, are preferably slit to simplify the separation. When the carton is divided into two parts by breaking open the perforated line, the cover may be easily removed as indicated in FIGURE 2, and may be replaced, the encircling strip telescoping over the upper end of the bottom section of the carton and the upper edge of the carton body abutting against the depending edges of the top closure.

Having the strip 32 on the outer surface of the carton is much more effective than having a similar strip on the inner surface of the carton; When the strip is applied to the inner surface of the blank, it is usually applied to the flat blank on a cellophane window machine, and the ends of the strip cannot be over-lapped on conventional equipment. Furthermore, once the cover has been removed, the structure described herein is much easier to telescope back onto the body portion than would be the case if the strip were adhered to the inner surface of the carton.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my reclosable carton; and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious means may be employed within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

1. A reclosable carton comprising:

a series of wall panels hingedly connected in tubular relation,

end closure flaps hinged to the ends of said wall panels and foldedinto tube closing position,

a weakened line of separation extending continuously across all of said panels adjacent to,'and parallel to, one end of said panels,

a flexible strip overlying said wall panels adjoining said one end thereof, said strip overlying said weakened line of separation and extending on each side thereof, and

means securing said flexible strip to the area of said Wall panels between said weakened line and said one 15 5 prises paper of less thickness than said wall panels.

3. The structure of claim 1 and in which the ends of said flexible strip are overlapped and secured together.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,716 4/1935 Guyer 22951X 2,474,523 6/1949 Guyer 229 s1 X 2,661,139 12/1953 Brooks 22948X JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. 

1. A RECLOSABLE CARTON COMPRISING: A SERIES OF WALL PANELS HINGEDLY CONNECTED IN TUBULAR RELATION, END CLOSURE FLAPS HINGED TO THE ENDS OF SAID WALL PANELS AND FOLDED INTO TUBE CLOSING POSITION, A WEAKENED LINE OF SEPARATION EXTENDING CONTINUOUSLY ACROSS ALL OF SAID PANELS ADJACENT TO, AND PARALLEL TO, ONE END OF SAID PANELS, A FLEXIBLE STRIP OVERLYING SAID WALL PANELS ADJOINING SAID ONE END THEREOF, SAID STRIP OVERLYING SAID WEAKENED LINE OF SEPARATION AND EXTENDING ON EACH SIDE THEREOF, AND MEANS SECURING SAID FLEXIBLE STRIP TO THE AREA OF SAID WALL PANELS BETWEEN SAID WEAKENED LINE AND SAID ONE END THEREOF, THE REMAINDER OF SAID STRIP BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FREE OF ATTACHMENT TO THE AREA OF SAID PANELS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID WEAKENED LINE OF SEPARATION. 